Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic has described the Super Eagles of Nigeria as powerful opponents and also insists that his team must get a win against the three-time African champions to harbour any hope of progressing beyond the group stage at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.

The Croats will face the Super Eagles in their first Group D game at the Mundial at the Kaliningrad Stadium on June 16.

Two-time world champions Argentina and Iceland, who will be making their debut at the finals, are the other teams in the group.

Dalic also picked former Chelsea midfielder John Obi Mikel as Nigeria’s most influential player.

“Nigeria’s is not a typical African team,they have Mikel as captain with young, fast and powerful players,” Dalic who was a defensive midfielder during his playing days stated in an interview with Sporske. jutarnji.hr.

“They are always lively and it will not be easy to play against them. If we are to go through to the next round, then we have to beat them.”

COMMENTS

No! The coach was not boasting, rather wary of Nigeria. On FIFA ranking, Nigeria is the weakest team in the group. However he doesn’t want his people to believe that Nigeria will be easy to beat. It will be a tough match which will decide who qualify in the group which also include Argentina and Iceland.